


Young Blood

by AlphaRedLeader, MoxieArts



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series), Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: (ha), Alternate Universe - Army, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, sneak bitch, tags are updated with every chapter cause I'm a uhhh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 17:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13276755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaRedLeader/pseuds/AlphaRedLeader, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoxieArts/pseuds/MoxieArts
Summary: Political tension is rising, with the Red Army staking dangerous claims on Norway and successfully gaining recognition as more than just a rag-tag group. While Red Leader is making his presence known, Maxwell is simply trying to make it through his summer. Unfortunately, his father has other plans for him. Now Max just has to figure out a way to get back home- or at least back to Camp Campbell.





	Young Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Young Blood AU? More like "Theo starts yet another series while he still has five unfinished". I'm pretty good at that, huh? Anyways uh, Eddsworld and Camp Camp exist in the same universe. How #wild is that, amirite?

May 27th was the worst day known to man. Nothing could compare to this horrible day, filled with a cacophony of noisy, exuberant children. Max despised it, settling his headphones snugly against his ears as he watched the throngs of his peers excitedly clearing out their lockers, chatting about summer plans. He didn’t need to hear to know that it was all insolent garbage- cooing over family trips or excited chatter over the video games that could finally be binge-played. Here and there one could find the odd student of who seemed more tired than excited, but still partook in conversation; these were the ones who had summer school, the lucky bastards.  
  
Max had tried getting himself sucked into the vortex of summer school, he really had. Skipping class until his parents had a truancy fine, bailing on tests, sleeping during class. Yet somehow, by some fucked up miracle that was likely the work of his father’s money or some bullshit fucking school fairy, Max had passed all of his classes and worked off his truancy. So here he was, shoving battered folders and books into his stupid designer backpack and scowling into the grimy darkness of his locker.   
  
This summer was going to fucking suck, as always.  
  
With a bitter sigh, Max let himself slump into the locker, hiding his head in the cool metal for a moment to collect himself. His fists where tight by his side as he grit his teeth and thought about the upcoming torture that was going to be his summer. Music blared through his headphones loud enough to buzz them against his skin, so he had no warning when a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder, tugging gently. There was a solid _clunk_ of his head hitting the metallic wall before he slithered out of the locker and shot a hot glare to his best friend.   
  
Jake was giving him a goofy smile, tousled blond hair falling in his bright amber eyes as he tilted his head at Max like some lost puppy or something. _What an idiot_. With a drawn out sigh to show just how displeased he was to be interrupted from his moping, Max slid the headphones off his ears to rest around his neck. A pleasant buzz greeted him when his ears were released of the heavy bass, and he cocked his head at the other tween, quirking an eyebrow.   
  
“Is there a reason like you decided to interrupt my sulking? You know how important it is that I get at _least_ a solid six hours of angsty brooding a day, or I’ll fall behind on my pre-teen quota.” He half joked, a rare smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked up at the taller boy. 

 

Jake snorted, used to Max’s particular brand of anti-humor. He shrugged his backpack to the side, and despite his cool demeanor, Max could  _ feel  _ the waves of excitement rolling off his friend.. “My parents cancelled the family trip to Paris since all that junk is going on between them and Norway right now” As always, he hedged bluntly to the point. Max simply stared at him, so the taller boy huffed, emphasizing his next words with his hands empathetically. “ _ Meaning,  _ my dear Maximus,” ( _ “I told you not to call me that-“ _ ) “I’ll be in the States all summer!  _ So _ we can finally spend some summer time together!” 

 

There was a glimmer of excitement before the usual overwhelming wave of disappointed realism drowned it out. Max heaved a sigh that seemed to drag his shoulder down, horrible posture making him even shorter. “Jake, you know I go to that shitty summer camp all summer. I leave in three days; there isn’t time for us to do anything.” The hope flickered in his friend’s eyes, but Jake seemed determined to outshine Max’s pessimism

 

“Well, we still have your birthday,”

 

“Camp doesn’t end until the week before school, you’re going to miss it.”

 

“What about if I asked my parents if-”

 

“Enrollment closed two weeks ago, but nice try.”

 

“Uh, I can visit you?”

 

“Jake-” Max’s annoyance was steadily rising, and he forced himself to take a deep breath, glare falling from those amber eyes to the grimy floor. “Look, just stop trying, okay?” The quiet words were almost swept away by the noisy hall, but even so Jake could see the rare amount of emotion glinting in Max’s teal eyes. He opened his mouth once more before slumping slightly, gaze flicking past his friend to look down the hallway. 

 

“Max… Look, you have my phone number, just try and give me a call every now and then, alright?” The streak of defeat in his voice was clear, painting the air between them with a bitter tone.

 

There was an awkward moment where Jake almost seemed like he was going to hug the angry Indian, but he seemed to think better off it and simply clap his shoulder before striding off to clean out his own locker. (Which was frankly stupid- Max knew Jake kept his locker as pristine as his stupidly white teeth or perfectly tousled hair.  _ Uhg _ . Max narrowed his eyes at the retreating form before turning back to his half full locker and slamming the metal shut with a loud  _ clang _ . Narrowed eyes bore into the horrible grey before he realized that he’d just locked himself out of the half full locker. 

 

… Fuck it, Nothing in there was really all too important anyways. The preteen huffed and grabbed his backpack from the floor, sighing bitterly and making his way down the bustling hallway. Without Jake to talk to, there was no point in having his headphones down, so he pulled them back up and marched on. Too many times for comfort kids ran into him, nearly knocking the shorter boy to the ground as they bustled about. God, did no one pay attention to their surroundings? He knew he was short, long awaited growth spurt  _ still  _ evading him, but for fucks sake.. 

 

Max marched straight to his nanny’s car, hopping into the back of the stupid Lexus and slamming the door. As per usual, this got him the usual chiding from Earnest about slamming doors and how expensive this car was,  _ blah blah blah.  _ He blinked and gestured to his headphones before slouching down in the seat and putting his feet up on the back of the passenger seat. The boy closed his eyes and let his music blare into his ears, nodding minutely to the beat and letting himself zone out instead of thinking about  _ fucking camp.  _ Or, even better, about the three entire days he would be spending at the flat- with nothing more to entertain himself than the passive aggressive standoffs with his father and verbal abuse hurled at his Nanny. 

 

Earnest was talking at him again. Great. He scowled at the rear view mirror, knowing the greasy old bag of bones could see him as he turned away. He even turned the music up higher for good measure. He could tell by the way Earnest wrinkled his nose he heard the music, which made the painful buzz in his ear drums totally worth it. The satisfaction he felt from pissing off his nanny was brief today, as his mind quickly wandered to the end of school and his upcoming summer...

 

He was going to miss Jake. His frown deepened as the thought crossed his mind. Fuck Jake and his trips to Paris and wanting to spend time together like they were  _ actually  _ best friends. Max  _ knew  _ Jake had other friends, people he cared about more than Max, crushes. Jake was probably going to spend his summer playing video games with his friends, going to movies, swimming in the lake and laughing… Maybe Jake would even get his first kiss at some dumb campfire, and have a little summer fling. Whoever that ended up being would be lucky- Jake would probably treat them like they were the sun. Buy them things, take them to movies, Hold their hand and give them horrible nicknames. Not that Max wanted that or anything. He put his head on his hand and looked at the city outside his window, watching the scenery flash by in a blur. 

 

Who was he kidding, Jake had probably had his first kiss long ago. It was probably some stupidly preppy rich girl who went to their school, floating on good looks and her Daddy’s money, just like the rest of them. What was truly horrible was Max couldn’t even siphon himself out of the crop of idiots because he was just as bad. Just another spoiled rich kid; he was only different because he hated his father’s dirty money rather than embraced it. But then again, Max hated a lot of things, so was he really all too unique from the flock? 

 

While he was spending time brooding over his budding hatred for Norway and politics that he was too ignorant to be a part of, the Lexus pulled up in front of the flat, sliding into the open garage with a soft rumble. Max briefly considered just camping out in the car, but if he did then Earnest would just bother him every ten minutes until he went inside. With a heavy sigh, Max slid out of the car and slunk to the door, unlocking it and throwing his backpack on the counter.

 

The tween looked around cautiously, checking for any interference between him and his room before making a beeline for it, eager to just hole up until dinner. There was a moment where he thought he’d made it until he saw the looming figure in the living room.  _ Damnit.  _ With a long suffering sigh, the preteen pulled his headphones off and paused his music, teal eyes looking up to his father. The broad shouldered man absolutely towered over him, and Max found himself invertedly straightening his permanent slouch in some semblance of an attempt to be taller. 

 

“So, son, I presume you’re returning from school at this early hour means you’ve been released for the summer? If that is the case, we have much to talk about.” 

 

_ God, Max hated when his father called him son.  _ “Uh, yeah, school got let out today,” he offered cautiously, glancing past his father to his room and frowning at the partially opened door. Earnest had probably been in there, cleaning again. Which meant that he’d likely thrown away anything Max had left out that ‘didn’t look important’. Awesome.. “Can we talk after I get changed? Uh, sir,” He only remembered to tack on the formalities after his eyes wandered back to his father’s sharp features. If he had any hopes of seeing Jake at all this summer, he’d better try his best to keep the man in good spirits. 

 

“I was aware that you were sent home with your final report card.” He said coldly, ignoring the request. Well, so much for him being in a good mood. With a hard swallow, Max meekly made his way back to the kitchen to grab his backpack off the counter, not entirely pleased with the tight feeling that rippled across his shoulders when he had his back to the man. He’d known throughout the school year that this moment would eventually come- especially since he’d been self sabotaging all year in a futile attempt to be put in summer school. But that didn’t make it any easier. 

 

“It’s not the best,” he warned softly, “But I still passed all of my classes… My lowest grade was a 74…” He swallowed hard and started rifling through the backpack, acutely aware of the tense silence stretching on between them. Where was Earnest when you needed him? Max could really use the nanny as a scapegoat right about now. He managed to scrape the balled up paper from the very bottom of his bag- of course- and smoothed it out quickly. With a sharp breath, he turned on his heel and presented the paper to the man, eyes cast aside. 

 

“Hm.” Max winced slightly as his father looked over the paper, eyes ever sharp and mouth pulling into a disappointed line. He was royally screwed this time. Maybe next time he should figure out some other way to stay in town, rather than trying to sabotage his grades. Something that would prove less… perilous maybe? His father tapped the English grade, sharp blue eyes  boring into Max. “Would you care to explain why your marks for Mr. Gildey’s class are so poor? You barely got a C, yet I know you have the capacity to receive nothing but A’s.  _ As you should be. _ ”The words were sharp enough to cut Max down from his high horse, and he tumbled down back to his place with a flinch.

 

“He’s a biased grader,” He said softly. That wasn’t exactly what he would call it- but something about his ten minute long rant about how his white supremacist teacher had docked his grade for speaking out of turn seemed inappropriate. 

 

The sharp snap of fingers had Max shutting his mouth obediently, and he meekly looked down to the ground.  _ Were those new shoes? They looked expensive. Maybe he got them while he was in Italy last month. Probably, they seem like the type of leather bulltshit that would come from some overly expensive little store dedicated specifically to shoes of old white men. Must’ve been pretty funny when a rich Indian man strolled in instead. I bet they were absolutely beside themselves.  _ Unfortunately, his distraction tactic of focusing on shoes could only last so long, and soon enough his father was speaking again. “Mr. Gidley is a man with many accomplishments and much more experience than you. And you say he is a…  _ biased grader? _ Did you make a scene again, Maxwell?”

 

Max was perfectly content to let the silence that stretched between them be his answer, but a sharp snap next to his ear had him flinching away and looking up at his father. The words tumbled out of his mouth like an uncontrollable river, heart thrumming quickly in his chest as he admitted to his wrong doings to the man who he feared most. “He made a derogatory comment about me and I snapped at him, because he’s a racist fucking asshole- fuck, I’m sorry-” 

 

“Do you think I got here by snapping at everybody that insulted me?” His father’s voice was tinged with anger now, a break in the façade. “You disappoint me; you’re entitled and easily offended. Have you no pride? There is an entire world out there that will say ‘derogatory’ comments, you cannot keep ruining your opportunities by being such a  _ child _ . You know, when I was your age, things were so much harder for me, but do you see me complaining? Do you see me picking fights with the men who sneer at the stupid Indian who thinks he can come into their country and steal their money?  _ No,  _ I actually  _ work  _ for what I want, and I always have.  _ As you should be, Maxwell.  _ You’re nearly in highschool now, you need to learn to grow up and stop acting as if the world owes you any favors.”

 

A dangerous game was in play now, one they played often. A violent back and forth of views, a clash of stances, a vastly disadvantaged tween scrabbling in the moral filth with his head strong father. Maxwell knew this game well, he knew he was outmatched, he knew that these fights all had the same outcome. Yet, as always, he refused to break. His meek respect reared into ugly anger as he puffed up at the man that so easily towered over him, teal eyes flashing with fury.   

 

“I’m not assuming the world owes me any favors,  _ father,  _ but it’s fucking 2014 for fucks sake! We aren’t in the 1950’s anymore, so when someone pulls some racist bullshit I’m gonna fucking call them out on it! And I  _ know  _ you had it hard as a second gen immigrant, I know shit was fucking rough for you- how can I not when it’s all you ever fucking talk about?! For someone who claims I’m such a spoiled brat you sure do seem to complain a fucking lot,  _ father dearest. _ ” Max curled his lip, small body quivering with pent up rage. He hadn’t planned to going there today, to bring up a decade old thought that had been plaguing him since he was a child, but fuck it. If his dad wanted to go there, then they’d fucking go there. Max could play dirty too.

 

His father was very obviously struggling to contain his anger.  _ Ha! Not so infallible after all.  _ “Max you have reached the last straw with this teenage rebellion.” If the low strain in his voice wasn’t borderline freezing Max in terror, he’d laugh.  _ Teenage rebellion?  _ Please, his birthday was still a half month away. Max was only on the  _ cusp  _ of being a teenager- and he was secretly gleeful with the knowledge that over the next five years he’d be  **so much worse.**

 

He expected the quick movement to be a slap, scrunching his eyes shut and tensing, but the pain never came. Tentatively, Max opened his eyes to see a pamphlet in front of him, staring at it for a few long moments before his traitorous lips pulled up into a snarky sneer. “What the fuck is this?” The stock was neatly printed with a red logo, grey lettering declaring it a ‘behavioural reformation camp for young soldiers’. He could read between the lines, this was fucking boot camp. Nervousness made a crazed laugh bubble out of him, as the tween glanced up to his father. “I know you’re busy and all, but newsflash? I’m not old enough for boot camp, pops. And  _ mother _ would never agree to it.” A low blow, mentioning the woman who had no room in her heart to love either of them. 

 

Pain shot through the side of his head and,  _ ah _ , there’s the smack he’s been expecting. Max gingerly rubbed at the sore spot and looked up at his father, snarky demeanor gone once more. A thick finger pointed out the logo on the front and his father sneered down at him. “This is not boot camp, it’s  _ reformation  _ camp, and you’re going. I’ve already discussed this with your  _ mother _ , and it’s final. So go pack your fucking bags, Maxwell.” 

 

He was genuinely shocked. Cold started seeping through his stomach as he blinked up at his father- mother had agreed. He’d actually called her and she  _ agreed.  _ Max knew his mother didn’t care for anything aside from her fashion shows- but this? The boy swallowed thickly and tried to fight the dread slowly pumping through his veins. He wanted to argue, wanted to dispute it. Worm his way out of it, agree to go to Camp Campbell and be the best fucking camper they had if only his father didn’t ship him off to god knows where to be beat into submission. 

 

“This is over, son. You can go to your room. Enjoy your time before you have to leave.” For once the old man sounded  _ drained.  _ Like he was the one that had to go to a fucking brainwashing center. Max clenched his fists, ready for more fighting, before all the fiery spite left him in one exhausting sweep. The young preteen let his glare die down and simply shouldered his bag once again, marching stiffly past and heading to his room. He had half the mind to scream about how much he hated his father, to slam the door and lock himself away. But instead he simply closed the door with a soft click and shuffled over to his bed, dropping his backpack and shucking his clothes as he went. 

 

Possibilities of how to revolt flickered through his mind, but Max simply crawled under his comforter and pulled out his cellphone. He should be packing, should be figuring a way out of this, should be trying to plot something or at least prepare himself. But instead, he found himself fucking around on his phone and spacing out. The little LED screen seemed to be the only thing tying him to the room as hours passed, sun slowly sinking and basking his room in the comfortable darkness of dusk. 

 

Eventually he decided to get off his sorry ass, pushing himself off the bed with a curse at his own idiotic actions. Honestly, he couldn’t afford that time he’d just wasted doing nothing. He shrugged into a hoodie and some sweats, padding out into the hall and glancing around for his father before slinking off to the kitchen to stock up on some food before he had to hole up in his room to pack. Unlike when he packed for camp every year, Max had a feeling he was actually going to have to take his time and choose what to bring. Very different from his usual act of shoving clothes in a bag with his bear and a videogame. 

 

With a poptart package in his teeth and a juice pouch in hand, Max snuck his was back to his room and got to work. As always, his father hadn’t given him a true deadline, so it was best that he just pack now and prepare to leave at any given moment.  _ At least mother will write everything out and give you a timeline to follow for fucks sake.  _ A soft sigh left him, weighing heavy on his small body as he idly dig through his dresser for underwear. 

 

The act of packing his bag was mundane, giving Max ample opportunity to think about how he might be able to worm his way out of the situation. Running away was out of the question. He couldn’t preen to his mother either, she’d already agreed with his father. Maybe he could manage to get kicked out? It would be a stretch- it was behavioral camp afterall. But, then again, Max tended to find a way to get what he wanted. No matter how unconventional. 

 

In fact, the more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. He’d act up and lash out, be an absolute  _ menace  _ until they simply gave up and shipped him back to his father’s doorstep. His father, who would in turn, pawn him off on his mother for the summer, who would simply place him back into David’s overbearing arms for the remainder of his warmer months. It was far from ideal, but at this point it was all Max could hope for. 

 

Oh, if only he knew what a terrible fucking plan that was. 

 

The next day and a half was spent lazing in his room, idly scrolling through instagram and brooding over the adventures of his classmates. At least when he came back none of them would want to fuck with him, not after they heard he’d done time at a reformation camp. The thought brought a flicker of a smile to his lips, as he was preparing for bed that night. The looks on their faces would be priceless- not that he cared or anything. 

 

As he curled under his comforter for the night, Max flicked to his messaging system, shooting Jake a text. The past two days they’d been talking on and off, namely Jake babbling about how he was going to have nothing to do without Max in town and Max providing snarky comments on how that was absolute bullshit. It was nice, but all too soon he found himself nodding off, and had to tell Jake good night. He slept easy, until he was woken up at five thirty in the fucking morning. 

 

“Gh _ od why the fhuc _ ,” he hissed, grumpily sitting up and wiping the sleep from his eyes as he settled Earnest with a glare. The nanny met his look with something quite smug, holding Max’s clothes out pointedly. 

 

“Your father expects you ready to leave in thirty minutes, Maxwell.”

 

“D’n’t call me M’xwell,” he mumbled crossly, flinging back the blanket and swinging out of bed on unsteady feet. Max snatched the clothes and started changing, glaring at Earnest crossly. “Breakfast, or does he expect me to fend for myself.” 

 

“He didn’t request I make you eat, so I suppose you’ll get something on the way.”

 

“Pack me a snack bag anyways, ‘Nestert.” Earnest hated that nickname.

 

“... As you wish.”

 

Max fixed the retreating form with a sleepy glare, running a hand through his atrocious bed head and huffing to himself. Three hours of sleep had not treated him kindly, and he was really craving coffee with milk right about now. With a rough shake of his head to wake up, Max made his way to the bathroom and did his morning routine- only barely remembering to grab his toiletries to shove in his bag. Max eyed the duffle for a solid three minutes before sighing heavily and swinging the heavy thing over his shoulder, trudging out of his room. 

 

While Earnest prepared some food for him, he grabbed a to go cup and got himself some coffee- completely ignoring the nanny’s sharp look. He could suck a fucking nut, Max had no clue how long today was going to be and he was already fucking exhausted. One cup of coffee wasn’t going to do him any harm. He sipped idly at the cup and started setting up his music, sliding his headphones around his neck for the time being and scrolling through his playlists. 

 

Soon enough a bag of food was being shoved in his hands and Max was making his way to the already waiting car, still bitterly sipping at his coffee. The silence between him and his father was palpable in the air, so Max was quick to drown himself in his music. As expected, his father didn’t give him any time of day- which honestly Max was perfectly fine with. He was already pissed off enough as is without his father’s words to prod him further. Unfortunately, the ride lasted far longer than he would of liked, hours stretching on as they slowly made their way upstate and past borders. 

 

It was only six hours later when they were passing through New Jersey that he realized his father planned on shoving him onto a plane, and Max scowled deeply in the back seat. He hated flying- not because he was afraid of heights or anything! Please, only total babies are scared of heights. He just… doesn’t like the idea of being in a steel death trap, a mile above the ground. The ground, where it’s  _ safe.  _

 

The drive through New York was horrid, and he found himself itching to just open the door and bolt. Traffic was slow enough, Max could probably just grab his backpack and book it. He idly wondered if his father would even go after him, or if he’d just let him disappear into the crowd. God knows it would be easier for him, wouldn’t it.

 

Before he could think on it much more, the car was jolting forward again, and Max was watching flocks of cars all edging against each other to get to the airport.  _ Wonder how many of these people have no clue where they’re going.  _ Judgemental eyes stare through the window, and he self consciously digs his fingers into the handle of his backpack. After a shaky breath, Max finally slides his headphones off and blinks to the front seat.

 

“What’s my flight information.” There’s no point arguing, he knows this. If he purposefully misses the flight, his father will just book another one, and assign some idiot stewardess to watch him like a disobedient child. 

 

“Gate D32, flight 679; your ticket and information is in the pocket of the duffle bag in the trunk. I expect you to take that with you, as what you need for camp is packed there.” As always, the man’s voice is nothing but business. Cold, detached formality that he displays to everyone. With a huff, Max slides out of the car without so much as a goodbye. He struggles for a second with the heavy duffel bag before getting himself situated and slamming the trunk shut.

 

He doesn’t look back as he marches to the entrance. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed uwu
> 
> While I can't promise a set update schedule thanks to how busy my life is, I can offer you our discord server! Here you can bother us with questions, or just come hang out! We promise we don't bite.
> 
> https://discord.gg/RmnjYg8


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